Restaurant tipping and holiday regifting: $363 for the nanny?

Nannies can expect $363 in holiday tips on average in 2012, according to Zagat.

Nannies can expect $363 in holiday tips on average in 2012, according to Zagat. (Phil Bray / Los Angeles Times)

Tiffany Hsu

You’ve got gifts covered for your significant other, your best friend and your mom. But what about the mailman? The gardener? The poor, neglected schoolteacher?

That’s where tipping comes in. Compared to last year 88% of Americans plan to tip the same amount in 2012, according to a new survey of 1,719 people from Zagat.

Nearly half do it to express their gratitude for services. Four in 10 tip to reward hard work and valuable help. Ten percent of Americans tip out of obligation, while 1% are pressured into it out of fear of backlash.

Whatever the reason, Zagat’s respondents plan to tip a hefty amount.

The garbage collector will get $25 on average, the hairdresser $41. Babysitters and dog walkers will get more than $50 apiece. Parents will shell out $119 in tips to day care providers. Housekeepers can expect, on average, a $122 tip.

But it’ll be the nannies who come away from the holiday season most enriched. Mrs. Doubtfire will score $363 in tips this year, according to Zagat.

At restaurants, the national tipping average is 19.7%, according to Zagat. Most diners calculate gratuity, based on the post-tax bill, while 38% say they base the amount off the pre-tax charge.

And 61% of patrons say they’ve never withheld a tip while dining out. But a quarter of respondents said they’d scrap the extra payment if they ended up with an unfriendly waiter or a bug or hair in their food.

When it comes to takeout, Americans tip less for delivery. Only 15% of customers tip delivery people 20% on the bill, while nearly two in ten patrons say they tip 10%.

The survey also covered gift-giving habits. The most popular gifts to give, according to respondents, were money, gift certificates and cards, bottles of wine or liquor and baked goods.

And what comes around goes around. Roughly half of Americans admit to regifting items.